What to do when depression wins?

If you or someone you know is battling depression, you are not alone. It has been said that 7 percent, or nearly 17.3 million people, have experienced at least one major depressive episode in their lives. While this battle may be wearing on one’s mind, body, and soul, in the midst of feeling defeated, there are small things that one can do to get back in the race and move towards living a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life. When one is at one’s “bottom,” so to speak, the most important thing to do is find some reason, some person, place, or thing worth continuing with the fight. This can be a pet, a loved family member or friend, or something to look forward to, such as a trip or vacation that you have planned. Having something to live for and to serve as a motivator to overcome depression is key. Additionally, with any little bit of energy and motivation you can muster up, it could be beneficial for your life and mental health to identify and (if able) write down any of the positive things that you have in your life. Do you have a roof over your head, write that down! Do you have food to eat, write that down too! The more positive things you can identify and acknowledge having in your life, no matter how “trivial” they may be objective to someone in a healthier state of mind, the more likely you will experience an increase in mood, or at the very least decrease the negative from worsening. On a similar note, one can also identify and, if you are open to and have the energy to (as depression at its most severe can result in chronic fatigue and severe lethargy), write them down! Did you graduate from high school? Write that down! Did you wake up today even though you may not have wanted to, but are glad (on some level) that you did? Were you hungry and so you ate something? Were you tired and perhaps lacking oxygen, and so you took a deep breath? Those are all, despite what some people might say, accomplishments! Anything can be thought of as an accomplishment if you aimed to achieve it and, in fact, did achieve it! Once you are out of the worst of the depression, it is important to reach out for help and get assistance from others, be it friends, loved ones, or professionals (i.e., psychotherapists, psychiatrists, medical professionals) to help you continue and maintain that inertia that is getting you into a healthier state of being and out of the defeat of depression.